Having doubts...is it possible?

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  1. #1

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    Exclamation Having doubts...is it possible?

    Hello all,

    I've been offered a job in HK to start in a few weeks. The salary is reasonable but isn't enough to cover me and my husband.

    My husband doesn't have a degree and only speaks English. The agencies have been less than useful. I know the job market is fierce, but what are the chances of him getting a job when he gets there (eg: bar work, call centres) to tide us over? He will be eligible to work as a dependant.

    Thanks for any advice


  2. #2

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    Its possible yes but what experience does he have and what does he do now?

    Yes theres bar work but the pay isn't too good maybe about the equivalent of 2-3 pounds an hour excluding tips.

    Theres also an adult chat line company that seems to be advertising locally all the time in one of the local free papers but I guess you don't want him to go down that road!

    Theres always English Teaching as an option if his accent was fairly neutral, He just needs to get certified which would cost less than 200 pounds and that could get him teaching jobs paying 15 pounds an hour upwards.

    Don't rely on agencies to find him anything or give you good advice as yes a lot of them are as useful as a chocolate teapot.

    Check out websites such as jobsdb.com.hk and get his C.V posted up on monster.com.hk


  3. #3

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    Slightly confused here - if the job earns enough to get yoiu an Employment Visa (generally reckoned to be more than HK$20K per month) then 60% ok HK households will be surviving on less than you. I suggest that you have some expensive habits which you may need to curtail unless and until your husband finds some work.

    If the job pays less than $20K what makes you think you'll get an Employment Visa?


  4. #4

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    60% of households in the whole of Hong Kong but what percentage of Western expats? I would guesstimate less than 5%.
    There's no way my wife and I would come to Hong Kong for 20K p/m.

    Agree with Jimbo on the agencies- waste of time. the best way is for him to find something when he gets here and working behind a bar is a good way to meet people and start networking- depending on what he does back home though.

    I have no degree and speak no Cantonese or Mandarin (what I do know would probably only be useful for the chatlines Jimbo seems to know so much about!).


  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lammarite:

    I have no degree and speak no Cantonese or Mandarin (what I do know would probably only be useful for the chatlines Jimbo seems to know so much about!).
    Umm they advertise all the time in HK magazine thats how I know about them, I do not use them nor work for them


  6. #6

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    I would feel very uncomfortable moving on a salary that couldn't support two. He could get lucky and find work quickly, but how will you feel if he can't? How will he feel?

    A friend of mine (on a good salary) has just decided to move back to England because her husband (a doctor, so it's trickier) can't find a way to work here. WOuld you be ok with having to do that, after a few months?


  7. #7

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    Consider teaching English.


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Asian1:
    Consider teaching English.
    Don't get me started with the Teach English stuff. I find this always so insulting towards the locals...

    Hey I am a native english speaker, I wanna work in HK but cant find a job...well wait wait wait I can be an english teacher..easy....Bollocks yeah !

    In English teacher you have the word TEACHER and sorry but being native does not make you a teacher...

    Won't even talk about the salary they usually get JUST because they were "lucky enough" to be borm in an english speaking country...

    Anyway to go back to the first question, well I guess even you can give a try, there is no harm trying to come with your husband..in any case if it does not work you can always go back...

  9. #9

    mat, i'm confused as to why you find native english speakers teaching english so insulting to the locals.

    would it be better to have the kids taught by the local teachers who are not at all fluent in english? what's a teacher who doesn't understand the material that s/he is teaching? according to the recent news, many local teachers are unable to pass the english exams themselves. so how is anyone going to trust the local teachers for teaching english?

    i'm trying to understand your bitterness towards foreign english teachers who are perhaps not as educated/qualified as the local teachers but ended up with better teaching jobs. i suppose you can say they are "lucky enough" to be born in an english speaking country, as much as, we are "lucky enough" to not be in iraq or ethopia, starving in a warzone. but that's how it is. people who know more will make more.


  10. #10

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    Kitty- as a husband who came here following a spouse I will say that at first it isn't easy but now I have my own company here and all is going well. It takes time to build a base of friends and colleagues but once you do, most will try and help with finding work for your husband.
    The agencies here really are a waste of time and to this day I don't understand how they survive. I know very few people who got their jobs through and agency but I know several who get theirs through the 'not who you know but who knows you' method.
    Why you would want to leave Edinburgh for the next few months, before the wind starts blowing down Princes Street, I don't know!


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